In the clothing art, there is often a need to adjust the length of a garment. A typical way that the length of a garment has been adjusted is through the use of a hem or cuff. A hem in the clothing art has been formed by folding under or over the edge of a garment and then sewing down the edge to thereby shorten the garment.
However, there is a major drawback in the aforementioned hemming technique, in that it takes a relatively significant amount of time and effort to make the hem, such that is not suitable if one desires to make a temporary hem. This is particularly true in the case of garments for children, specifically pants for toddlers. Since children grow at a relatively fast rate, parents typically tend to buy larger size pants for the children to grow into. The pants legs are initially too long and require hemming to prevent the children from tripping over the ends of the pants and possibly injuring themselves.
Making a hem also generally requires the use of a sewing machine, which many households do not possess. One could hire a tailor to hem pants legs, but the cost of doing so is cost prohibitive for a relatively cheap garment that would only be worn for a limited time by a toddler. This cost is increased because the stitching holding the cuff must be moved in order to readjust the length of the pants once the toddler has outgrown the hemmed pants.
One way of temporarily satisfying this need for a hem is to use pins to form a temporary hem. However, use of pins on garments worn by toddlers is not safe and is to be avoided.
Another way of temporarily satisfying this need is to use clips known in the art, such as paper clips, to form a temporary hem. The use of such clips is not effective, however. Most such clips are designed to secure materials with generally thin, flat surfaces. The clips known in the art are not adapted to clip thick material with uneven surfaces such as seamed fabrics. When thick material such as a pant leg is placed between the arms of a conventional clip, the clip generally becomes deformed into a V-shape and fails to exert sufficient force to secure a pant cuff.
One device that addresses some of the aforementioned concerns is U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/287,939, which was filed on Oct. 15, 2008 and entitled “Temporary Pants Hemming/Cuffing Devices.” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/287,939 is hereby incorporated by reference into the present application in its entirety.
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide an improved temporary hem that is easily adjustable, a method for making such a hem, and a device useful for making such a hem.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a hemming device which can be slipped over the folded-over hem, and can accommodate the side-seam located in most pants legs.
A further object of the present invention is to provide uniquely configured and aesthetically pleasing ornamental designs to be included with each hemming device.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide hemming devices which are safe to be used on toddler's garments.